The Happy Camper: Three New Camp Cookbooks

September 13, 2021

Forget the store-bought dehydrated meals for your next trip. They’re costly and not very creative. Dehydrate your own veggies, meat and sauces and pick up one, or all, of these new books that do a great job explaining how it’s done, as well as provide incredible recipe ideas.

Backcountry Eats: Making Great Dehydrated Meals for Backcountry Adventures by Kevin Ride

Kevin is a well-known outdoor You Tuber—and a supper nice guy. His videos are creative and informative, and so is his new book, Backcountry Eats: Making Great Dehydrated Meals for Backcountry Adventures.

The book is made for novice and experienced backpackers and paddlers. It does an excellent job demystifying food dehydration techniques and outlines everything you need to know to make your own dehydrated meals for backcountry travel.

It’s beautifully illustrated, detailed and well-written. The first section goes over how to select a dehydrator and how to dehydrate food of various types (fruit, vegetables, meats, seafood, grains, pasta) safely. There’s also a lot of bonus material such as how to create a meal plan, measure out proper portions and package each meal. He also covers stove types and how to protect your food from camp critters.

The second section has over 100 dehydrated recipes featuring simple one pot meals that rehydrate by adding water, but also rounds-out your repertoire with other recipes such as fruit leather, jerky, granola bars, baked items such as Bannock and a variety of hot drinks.

Check out his video on the book release here.

Feast On Adventure by Paul Shipman

Paul’s cookbook is proof that campers can dine in style while out in the backcountry. Feast On Adventure not only guides you through the world of freeze-dried, dehydrated and instant foods, it focuses on fascinating meals with bold falvours and global flair. I want to make his Plucky Cockaleekie Soup, Backcountry Bacalhau-Arinca or The Big Carry Goulash just for the sheer pleasure of announcing the names to my campmates while serving them out.

There are over 40 field-tested, lightweight, appetizing recipes that will please any camping mate. All are simple to prepare and leave little for the chosen camp dish washer. You’re able to customize any dish to manage your personal dietary requirements, whether gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, vegetarian, low sodium and so on…

One of my favourite sections is where Paul takes a conventional recipe and breaks it down to create it into your own backcountry recipe.

This is such an amazing book. Absolute proof that campers should thrive in the outdoors rather than attempt to survive out there.

The Voyageur’s Backcountry Cookbook by Mikaela Ferguson

Mikaela is a YouTuber with a great webinar “Meal Planning for Canoe Trips.” It’s based on her e-book The Voyageur’s Backcountry Cookbook.

This is a detailed and comprehensive guide to meal planning and backcountry cooking, especially for long canoe trips. Mikaela has spent many summers working as a canoeing and hiking guide in Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut, teaching youth and adults how to thrive in the wilderness. This basically means that her recipes are all field tested by solid critics: camp kids.

The book includes a packing list, steps for food dehydration, nutrition in the backcountry and over 35 meal ideas. It also comes with some unique extras: making bread in a Dutch oven, brewing the perfect cup of coffee over the fire, a sample meal plan, tips on Leave-No-Trace dishes and how to do the perfect bear hang.